Yellowstone National Park

We arrived in West Yellowstone on June 20th, one day before the Summer Solstice. From there we explored the Park for the next 3 days. Where we stayed, outside the park, was in the most southwest corner of Montana but the Park is mostly in Wyoming.
If you have never been to Yellowstone one of the first lessons to learn is that if there is an animal of any kind, traffic will stop. Mostly we are talking about elk, moose and bison. There is the "stop in the middle of the road because I have never seen an animal before and have to take a picture right here and now" kind of stop which can be aggravating as then everyone in line stops and does the same. Grrr.
Then there is the more reasonable "Holy crap there is a huge Volkswagen sized buffalo staring me down in the middle of the road and I surrender" kind of stop - shown below.

This road crossing of the herd seems to start with the alpha bison wandering to the middle of the road, stopping and glaring in either direction daring anyone to proceed (and winning), and then waiting while the rest of the gang crosses.

 

 

This is my attempt to take a picture when a large bison wandered in front of us while driving and then angled, it seemed to me anyway, right toward my open window. The camera shot took second place to me rolling up my window.

 

Yellowstone is a mythic blending of fire, water, air and earth. Water falls from the sky, finds it's way deep into the earth and according to a ranger we heard speak, this journey can take up to 500 years to subsequently be heated by the hot spot, that is underneath Yellowstone and rise in the form of steam, geysers or mud pots.

 

One not to miss earthly wonder is the Travertine Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Briefly, great amounts of limestone are heated, dissolved and pressured up to the surface. As this solidifies it turns into travertine - yes similar I guess to your kitchen counter travertine. Actually the mountains in the area are all mostly travertine from millions of years of this ongoing process. When all factors are good these terraces can grow up to 3 feet/year moving and re-sculpting as it wants!

Another mythic beauty

 

The Midway Geyser Basin is where the  Grand Prismatic Springs astound and mystify.

Just like the Terraces, there is a multitude of color, even brilliant, that is actually pigmented bacteria.

 

 

 

The variety of Yellowstone is awesome including the stark results of many different fires.

 

The Yellowstone river courses through the Park with all it's different moods.

 

And...

 

 

Before we left, Joanie brought my attention to another earthly anomaly and no matter what I said, she insisted it should be included as one of Yellowstone's wonders.

Charged Up the Solar Way

We arrived north of Billings, Montana on June 17th to meet Bob and Norene Shearer up on their beautiful land. Bob and I had been talking about my rv solar project for a few months and even though I was a newbie he agreed to work with me. Now Bob knows a thing or three about solar energy - click here (be prepared for some straight talk) and does not have much patience for the "damn foolishness" he finds in the rv solar products or installation world.
Now while Bob can get mad as hell about the mess in the rv solar world, he and Norene are the most hospitable and generous folks you can meet. The evenings even included happy hour while we watched the birds feed and cavort around their solar powered bird fountain. We camped on their land for 3 days while Bob installed a 632 watt/4 panel solar power system.
The components included 4 x 158 watt 'DM Solar' Polycrystalline solar panels from Germany, a 'Magnum Energy' Pure Sine Wave 2000 watt Inverter/Charger, a 'Morningstar' TS-MPPT-45 Charge Controller and a Trimetric meter.

Here is the Inverter/charger readout and the Trimetric readout, note the 100% charged reading.

 

Storage bay before Inverter & Controller installed 

  

 

After the Inverter & Controller installed 

  

Here Bob is working on the second set of panels.

Bob made sure we had the basics before we left and we now have a game changer of a power source for off grid adventures.

You can just barely see the outline of the 4 roof solar panels.

 

I can't say enough about Bob's expertise and Norene's generosity.



Where's ChrisnJoanie?

Here is an overview of our travel plans so far. Click the "Larger Map" option to see more details. We are currently near Denver, CO in the small town of Nederland (J)
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50,000 Silver Coins

So on our way to Glacier we traveled across Montana on Interstate 90. For many miles we saw billboards for the "Biggest Souvenir" store in Montana which did not attract us at all. Then I saw it claimed to have 50,000 silver dollars. Really? Well now I was interested. So we stopped in this small town called Haugan for lunch and gas.

I kid you not. As I remember the story, back in the old mining days of the area, men were paid in silver dollars. Well at some point the bar owner started drilling holes in the top of his bar (why - don't ask me - it looked cool) and patrons would put their silver dollars in these recessed holes with their names carved in and sealed. The story continues that the patrons remain the owner of the coin and have brought their grand kids to visit their coin.

 

So I think the earliest coins date back to the late 1800's.

Over the years they have taken the bar sections that have filled up and mounted them on the walls. Are you ready for this?

Well Joanie decided to get to know the locals while I was busy taking pictures. They exchanged emails and we continued on our way.

Getting Started

Hello good folks - where to start? The beginning, I guess, by way of the present.

To follow our journey put in your email address above.

The Present - we are currently landed outside Glacier Nat Park looking forward to 3 days of exploring the area. This was one of the first spots that Joanie and I wanted to go as neither of us had been here before.

The beginning - I was born in Lemuria - oh sorry different beginning..... our last day in our bricks and mortar was May 31st in Redmond, WA by the lake. While our transition was over a year in the planning inevitably the last few days were too long with too much work. For months we downsized dramatically by giving away, selling and sneaking stuff into the cars of unwary visitors.

After some debate on cost vs space, Joanie prevailed on an upgrade in our storage from a 10'x5' space to a 10'x7' space. This was opportune as I had underestimated her shoe collection.

So by the time May 31st came around it was all we could do to load and go.

 

 

                     This was just the beginning.

 

After taking longer than we planned, of course, we were ready.

 

Our new home with our "toad" hidden behind.

 



My navigator had wisely planned our first stop for a week at our "home" park in Neskowin on the Oregon coast. I remember us sleeping a lot. This quiet spot was perfect for rest and organizing.

You know the only problem with organizing in a new home is remembering where you put everything. I wish I had a penny for every time I said or heard "Do you know where the ... is?"

 

Along this note, after cleverly finding a home for almost everything I remember saying to Joanie "You know, filling every nook and cranny might not be the best thing" as I reflected on our slow lumbering journey up and down the rolling hills.





We took a wonderful ride to Pacific City just north of where we were staying. The reason I mention this is because I expect through our adventures we will not only explore the outer world but our inner worlds as well. As an example of beginning to stretch...

 

 

Spinning doughnuts on the beach. Who says youth is wasted on the young?

More to come.

 

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